Altered Realities
"I can't believe we only have three more weeks of summer vacation left." Spencer Carlin spoke as she stared out at the gorgeous Pacific Ocean. She found it hard to believe her family had only lived in California a little over a year. It was days like this that made her wonder how she'd ever survived back in Ohio, not to mention how she'd survived before she met Ashley.
"And it was such a nice day. Geez, Spence, why do you always have to bring reality into things when we're relaxing?" Ashley Davies took off her sunglasses so her girlfriend would get the full benefit of the dirty look she was sending the younger girl's way.
"I'm sorry, babe. I don't know what came over me. I guess I was just getting weird looking out at the water. Sometimes I still can't believe I'm here."
"You are, and I'm so happy we found each other, Spence." The brunette reached over and gave her girlfriend's hand a squeeze.
"I am too, believe me." Spencer returned the squeeze and continued idly massaging the other girl's hand as she continued rambling. "We've been through so much in such a short time, but you know they say tragedies either bring couples together or tear them apart."
"Very true. I had a feeling we'd be ok though when you didn't run away after my dad died. Little did either of us know what else was going to come. Your mom having an affair with Dr. Ben and moving out after your dad found out –"
"She's such a hypocrite! She's against our relationship because being a lesbian is against what God teaches. There's nothing in the Ten Commandments that says being a lesbian is wrong, however, there is one that says you shouldn't fuck someone else when you're married!" The blonde knew her face must be flushed, but she always became furious when she thought about her mother.
"Shh, Spence, I'm sorry baby. I didn't mean to upset you." Ashley sheepishly tried to calm her girlfriend down.
"You didn't do anything. It's ok, Ash, I just won't think about her anymore. She's been gone almost two months and I've only had to see her once. The boys go every week or so but I don't blame them. They can do what they want. I'm just so glad dad overruled her sending me to that deprogramming camp in Maine." The blonde shuddered at the memory, causing her girlfriend to hold her closer. "He told her if she was actually going to move out, she had no say in what went on in the house anymore."
"Your dad is awesome. I would have followed you though. We could have had our own version of But I'm a Cheerleader, even though you're not anymore." This earned Ashley a shove and smirk from her girlfriend. "Besides," her voice took on an unnaturally serious tone, "There was no way I was going to let her take you away from me too, even temporarily. Losing Aiden and Kyla was bad enough." It was the brunette's turn to shiver now.
"Aw, Ash, I'm sorry." Spencer moved closer and held the petite girl as tightly as she could. "I didn't mean to make you think of them again."
Ashley gratefully returned the embrace, settling into her girlfriend's arms. "Spence, it's ok. You know it helps me to talk about them. I know you miss them too. You didn't do anything. It has been an eventful summer though. I'm anxious for a nice, calm, normal junior year."
Just then, Spencer's cell phone rang. "Hi, Dad! What's up? – I'm at the beach, with Ashley. – Sure, we can come home right now, see you in a bit. Is everything ok? – Of course we will." She hung up the phone and turned to look at her girlfriend, matching her equally puzzed stare.
"What's wrong?"
"I have no idea. Dad's at home and wants us to come home now. He's not usually home this early. He wouldn't tell me anything else. God, I hope everything's ok." She shivered as she started to gather her things together.
"Come here a sec." Ashley wrapped Spencer in her arms for a minute, smoothing her hands over her girlfriend's back and hair in an attempt to calm her. "Whatever it is, we can get through it together, you know that. I'll be right there to help, I promise, baby. It's going to be fine."
"I know this wasn't my night to get dinner, and I'm sure Dad would have told me if that was why he wanted me to come home. I know I'm not in any trouble, I wonder if something happened to Glen or Clay?" Spencer kept going over all the possibilities in her head.
"Or your Mom. Who knows what it could be. It's not report card time, but you'd never get bad grades. Speaking of report cards, this is the first one I'm not actually dreading. You've helped me want to stay in school and learn a little. Guess you're rubbing off on me. Thanks."
"You're welcome. I better be. I can't have a girlfriend who spends most of her days in detention. That would totally ruin my image." The blonde teased the older girl who retaliated by playfully slapping her girlfriend at the next light.
"Come on Spence, you know part of the reason you love me so much is my rebellious side. We balance each other out."
"I guess you're right." Spencer flashed Ashley the grin that still made the brunette weak in the knees. Luckily she'd gotten better at controlling it while driving.
"I'm always right, you didn't forget did you?" Taking advantage of the stop and go traffic, the brunette playfully shoved her girlfriend while flashing her a seductive smile.
"God, you and your ego. I'm sure that's partly why you got a convertible, right? Easier for your big head to fit?" The smile took any sting out of Spencer's teasing.
"You know you love it. I can put the top back up if you'd like." Ashley put her hand on the controls.
"I do love it. I never said I didn't." The girls continued their playful banter all the way home, enjoying their time together and relishing how comfortable they felt with each other.
The girls got home in about thirty minutes. It seemed like no time to Spencer and Ashley, battling LA's afternoon traffic was always an 'adventure', and even after all the time they'd spent together, they never got tired of being together. They could spend two hours together and only feel like minutes had passed. They'd talked about this before and hoped that things would always be that way. Neither girl, not to mention most of the brunette's friends, could believe the changes in the older girl since they'd begun hanging out
To Arthur Carlin waiting at home for the girls to arrive however, it seemed like days had passed. He still couldn't believe what he'd found and he knew that what he was doing was probably wrong but he couldn't keep this to himself.
"Dad? What's going on?" Spencer burst through the doorway with Ashley close behind her.
"Thanks for coming home so fast, girls. Um, Ashley, I need to talk to you for a second, why don't we go in the living room? Spencer can go change or something."
"Did I do something wrong, Mr. C?" Ashley looked at him with a worried expression on her face as Spencer moved forward and grabbed her girlfriend's hand.
"Oh no! Not at all. I didn't mean to scare you. I just thought it might be easier to talk to you alone first. That's all."
"If it's ok with you and Spence then, you can talk to us both. I don't keep secrets from her." Ashley gave Spencer's hand a grateful squeeze as they moved into the living room.
"I shouldn't be telling you this. Unless we handle it carefully, I could lose my job, but I thought you should know, Ashley." The normally jovial man had a grave expression on his face, worrying both girls more. "Can you promise me that you will let me help you deal with this so I can hopefully contain things?"
"Sure, Mr. C." Ashley gazed at the man with a puzzled expression on her face, which matched the one on her girlfriend's.
Arthur stood up and began pacing back and forth as he spoke. "Ok. So two days ago, I was assigned a new case. I thought something was strange right away, so I did some digging and checking and finally got all the pieces back this afternoon. I'm sorry to have to tell you this, Ashley, but I think your daughter is my new client. She was abused by her adoptive parents and she was placed in foster care as the result of a report a few days ago." He looked at the girls who sat looking back at him with their mouths hanging open.